Posts tagged teaching

Find out your priorities, how you view life and love, and what type of people are in your life, with this quiz, another byproduct of teaching. (This is a great activity for older students and fun for adults, too!)

1. Arrange these animals from most (#1) to least (#5) preferred:
Cow/Tiger/Sheep/Horse/Monkey
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

2. Write one word to describe each of these—
Dog:
Cat:
Rat:
Coffee:
Ocean:

3. Who reminds you of each of these colors? Write a name of someone you know—
Yellow:
Orange:
Red:
White:
Green:

FIND THE MEANING OF YOUR ANSWERS BELOW!!
FIND THE MEANING OF YOUR ANSWERS BELOW!!
FIND THE MEANING OF YOUR ANSWERS BELOW!!
FIND THE MEANING OF YOUR ANSWERS BELOW!!
FIND THE MEANING OF YOUR ANSWERS BELOW!!

1. Where are your priorities?
Cow = career
Sheep = love
Monkey = money
Tiger = pride
Horse = family

2. What’s your view on personalities, life and love?
Dog = your own personality
Cat = your partner’s personality
Rat = your enemy’s personality
Coffee = how you view love
Ocean = how you view your own life

3. What type of people are in your life?
Yellow=someone who will never forget you
Orange =a true friend
Red = someone you love
White = your soul mate
Green = someone you will always remember

Photo by Beth Shea Palmer in Taoyuan, Taiwan

Andy is the charming boy deliberately commandeering this photo to draw attention, albeit negative, from his smart and sassy female classmates. To his right is Mandy, his arch-nemesis, perhaps only for the reason their names differ by one letter. To Mandy’s right is Fiona, who happened to arrive donning a pen-made mustache above her lip. I didn’t ask. In the back row, Selina, wearing red, flashes the double peace signs close to her face, the go-to pose all Taiwanese children seem to know from birth. Then moving to the left, it’s the rest of the adorable crew: Alice, Winnie and Ella.

I can tell you pretty confidently that Andy, Mandy, and Alice received their names from help of a kind school secretary or English-literate parent, chosen from a standard list handed out on their first day of English class. Fiona is named after Fiona from Shrek and Winnie after Winnie the Pooh and Ella after some cartoon or movie heroine—this I can just as confidently assure you.

Children—and adults who come into the two-name game later in life—obtain their English identity in one of four ways in Taiwan:

Least entertaining: The name is selected from the standard name list of all the good Irish Marys, Johns, Billys, Brandons and Kathys.

Always Cute: The name is plucked from a favorite fictional character; I’ve encountered an Aragorn, Engine (like the little one that could), and Fruit-bear (I can only guess he - yes HE - likes those gummy snacks?)

Room for weird: The name is a certain English word they have an affinity for. For example, I have multiple girls named Candy, Bunny, Kitty, Cherry—which is easy to see because, what’s a child’s favorite thing? Candy! After that? Cherries and bunnies and kitties!!! But as a Westerner, who has only encountered those names when reading about GOP rendezvous, its strange at first.

Random obscurity: A new English name is provided by the English teacher, as a result of having multiple children with the same name in one class. I have witnessed this amount to a christening of a Dragon, Money, Rain, Knight and King.

How often do you encounter a “Simultaneously travel, immerse in a fantastically opposite culture, pay off debts and save money” how-to?

I work at Gloria English School. It’s in a southern Taipei suburb, and its not ideal (only 20 hours a week but over six days, free dorm-style living, no subway system, few western comforts) but I know what I’d do differently, so if you’d like a job in Taiwan teaching English, consider my suggestions:

Prep:
1. Locate your passport.
2. Locate your original college diploma (any major is OK).
3. Locate the nearest Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, where you’ll begin your visa application process.

Browse listings:
4. Visit Dave’s ESL Cafe, the top site to view English teaching jobs posted around the world.
5. Go to the International Job Board page and search for listings in Taiwan.
6. Prioritize jobs listed in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Hualien, Taichung, Taitung, Kenting and Tainan. These are Taiwan’s largest cities with great access to trains and to English speaking activities and Western comforts, which you’ll find you need once in awhile if you’re here long term.

Compensation:
7. It’s approximately 32 New Taiwanese Dollars to 1 U.S. Dollar. Easily calculate the proposed salary in USD here.
8. If it’s not offered, ask for the e-mail address of a current teacher, whom can give you a clear picture of the life style and work environment.
9. Don’t settle for a 6-day work week. Taiwan is so small and easy to travel in a weekend, you could even fly to Japan or Hong Kong for a weekend. So having two days is important to make the most of your time and preserve sanity.

Considerations:
10. Food, transportation and housing costs half as much in Taiwan. Only beverages and technology cost comparable amounts to the U.S.
11. Those with interest in Asia/World history will find Taiwan an amazing treasure: remnants of Japan and China abound, not to mention Taiwan’s rich aboriginal tribe culture.
12. Chinese classes can be booked easily, so if you’re interested in becoming fluent in an important global language, Taiwan is the right place to immerse yourself in—they speak Mandarin. For language junkies, they also speak other dialects—Hakka and Taiwanese.

Lastly:
13. Only the South of Taiwan (south of Hualien and Kaohsiung) looks like a tropical island—Hawaii-esque. So, don’t expect that type of paradise in the north; instead, the North is full of mountains, hot springs forests and waterfalls—equally gorgeous, but no bikinis or ocean swimming.